Category Archive

For the past several months, Standard has been dominated by two titanic threats: Hazoret the Fervent and The Scarab God. These two larger-than-life creatures were among the most impactful and hardest to answer in the format, and their struggle for control of Amonkhet played out on battlefields at Friday Night Magic and Grand Prix alike. While many Standard stalwarts chose …

Dominaria Prereleases have wrapped up (and they were a blast!), and the Draft Leagues are open. With all of the new cards evaluated, the eyes of the masses are turning to Standard, and the splash that these powerful new cards will have on our favorite rotating format. But there’s only one card that I’m excited about – a card that …

In honor of last weekend’s double-header Grand Prix in our hometown of Seattle, we have a double dose of Deck of the Week for you today! Seattle is well-known as a Legacy hotbed, and it was only fitting that one of our own would win the Legacy portion of the event. Mox Seattle regular Daniel Duterte took down the tournament …

This week’s Banned & Restricted announcement has dramatically reshaped Standard. As Rivals for Ixalan arrives, four widely played cards will be leaving the format. The removal of Attune with Aether and Rogue Refiner from the Energy lists was not surprising, but the two bans targeting Mono-Red were considerably more unexpected. Both Ramunap Ruins and Rampaging Ferocidon (RIP, my clever girl) gave …

Merfolk was the first Modern deck I ever built, and as such it will always have a special place in my heart. Until Humans busted onto the scene, it was one of the few competitive Modern tribal decks, and dedicated Merfolk players have honed their Islandwalking strategies like sharpened knives. As a lover of aggressive decks and synergy, seeing Merfolk …

On Sunday at Grand Prix Portland, I had just picked up my second loss in the PTQ after scrubbing out of the main event. I was left a little heartbroken, wondering what I could have done differently. Should I have chosen a different deck for Standard? Did I mis-build my sealed pool? Is it just variance? If it’s just variance, …

After Temur Energy’s outstanding performance at the World Championships, many would-be National Champions sleeved up strategies to stand in the way of the new Best Deck. From Heart of Kiran and Toolcraft Exemplar to God-Pharaoh’s Gift and The Scarab God, main decks and sideboards were diverse in their game plans to stop thopters and Glorybringer alike, but with three of …

My goodness, this preview season has been a doozy! And with the first rotation in what feels like years pushing the Battle for Zendikar and Shadows over Innistrad blocks out of Standard, it looks like there’s a wide open metagame just waiting for dinosaurs and pirates to invade. Between new cards and reprints, there’s definitely more than a few cards …

To call Hour of Devastation Standard a success for the Red Deck would be quite the understatement. Over the past three months, loyal red mages got to see their deck vault into the top tier, culminating in Paulo Vitor Damo da Rosa’s convincing win (amidst a Top 8 with six other red aggressive decks). The additions of Earthshaker Khenra, Abrade, …

Last weekend marked my first time playing in a Regional Pro Tour Qualifier (RPTQ) in person. While I had played previous RPTQ’s online, and with minimal outside support from my testing group, this would be my first time testing with a group of fellow Magic players who shared my goals, as well as making the voyage to a game store …